Wimbledon’s greatest upsets

No one can resist an underdog story. We pick the 5 biggest upsets that knocked the stalwarts off kilter

Most of the time, it’s business as usual for the favourites in the early rounds of a tournament, however, every once in a while a little-known star emerges who upsets the odds and makes a mockery of the seedings. Click through the slideshow to look at 5 of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon history.

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Peter Doohan d. Boris Becker

If you’re a child of the 1980s, the sight of Peter Doohan beating Boris Becker in the second round of 1987 would be imprinted in your mind’s eye, having watched it time and again as part of ‘Another Golden Moment from Wimbledon’. It you’re not, chances are you’re sitting there saying Peter Who? Either way, you deserve a quick refresher. Doohan was a journeyman Australian, who had come into Wimbledon without having won a match all year. Becker was the two-time defending champion, and the overwhelming favourite. Doohan won the first set in a tiebreak, but when Becker came back to take the second 6-4, most assumed it would be business as usual for the young German. That was not to be the case, however, as Doohan played the tennis of his life over the next two sets to pull off an incredible 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win and earn himself the title of ‘Becker-Wrecker’ for life.

Lori McNeil d. Steffi Graf

Another incredible match from an era long gone was Steffi Graf’s first round exit at the hands of 30-year-old American Lori McNeil in 1994. Not only did Graf come into Wimbledon as the three-time defending champion, but she had lost just once in her last 40 matches at SW 19. McNeil on the other hand was well past her prime, having peaked 6 years ago in 1988 when she broke into the top 10 and was not expected to pose much of a threat to the usually irrepressible German. However, McNeil served and volleyed her way into the record books, becoming the first player ever to beat the defending champion in the first round, sneaking home with a narrow 7-5, 7-6 (5) win.

Jelena Dokic d. Martina Hingis

Troubled teen Jelena Dokic arrived on the big stage at Wimbledon in 1999 as a 16-year-old, and battled her way into the main draw through the qualifiers. As luck would have it, she was drawn to face the world no.1 and 1997 Champion Martina Hingis, still very much in her teens herself. Hingis had handed Dokic a tennis lesson at Melbourne Park earlier in the year, beating her for the loss of just 3 games, but roles were to be reversed that day as a shell shocked Hingis had absolutely no answer to the raw power of the Croatian starlet, suffering a 6-2, 6-0 first round defeat.

Lukas Rosol and Steve Darcis d. Rafael Nadal

While undoubtedly the ‘King of Clay’, it is sometimes easy to forget that 9-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal has also won two Wimbledon titles. Which is why his back-to-back defeats at Wimbledon in 2012 and 2013 were both massive upsets coming on the back of winning in Paris each year. The first to stun him was Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol, who beat Nadal 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in a real slugfest with the world no. 100 producing such unbelievable raw power from the back of the court that Nadal just didn’t know what hit him.The fact that Nadal lost in the second round in 2012 made his first-round exit in 2013 a little bit less of a shock, but it was still hard to believe that a 5-ft-10 Belgian named Steve Darcis, ranked 135 in the world beat Nadal in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4.

George Bastl d. Pete Sampras

Before Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka emerged as Switzerland’s rather extravagant contribution to men’s tennis, there was the little known George Bastl, who has few accomplishments in his professional tennis career, having lost 89 out of the 137 matches he played on the ATP Tour. However, in 2002 Bastl was awarded entry into the main draw of Wimbledon as a Lucky Loser and on a rare sun-blessed day at SW19 beat seven-time champion Pete Sampras in what proved to be the American legend’s final appearance at Wimbledon. Amazingly enough, Bastl raced into a two sets to love lead before Sampras stormed back to win sets 3 and 4, and just when it seemed that the American was going to pull through, Bastl produced some of the best tennis of his career to record a stunning, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 upset win.